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It’s the moment of truth for many as their suspicions are confirmed, or they find themselves no longer able to live a lie.
| Aired | 130/2022 |
| Network | HBO |
| Directed By | Sam Levinson |
| Written By | Sam Levinson |
Recap
This Is Farewell – Nate, Aaron, Marsha, Cal
Cal is done. It isn’t clear what pain meds he is taking, but he somehow gets to Rue levels of not giving a f***. This leads to his driving drunk and high to where he and Derek kissed, then getting kicked out. Then, when he returns home, he pisses in the foyer and leaves his penis out when he talks to Marsha, Nate, and Aaron. And on top of that, he reveals he had sex with a man the first time while Marsha was pregnant and that he has had sex with many men.
From there, he decides it is time for everyone to come clean. He reveals he knows Marsha is having an emotional affair, Aaron’s porn habits, and Nate? Well, he just admits he doesn’t know Nate at all, and he raised him, so that’s the funny thing. And with dropped the mic on everyone, including himself, he takes a picture of the family, which strangely includes a third son, and off he goes.
It’s Not My Party, But I’ll Cry If I Want To – Cassie, Nate, Maddy, Lexi
The love triangle between Cassie, Nate, and Maddy is wearing on Cassie, and all Lexi can do is watch. For Cassie, at this point, she is seemingly adapting to the kind of toxic Nate finds endearing, but the problem is, while a part of him likes that out of Maddy, Cassie’s version of toxic is different.
With Maddy, she can be soft, kind, and alluring, even to the point of asking Nate if he ever felt loved by her. Yet, she can also flip it and start an argument off the littlest thing. Cassie? She makes the claim she is crazier than Maddy, and she might be right. For while Maddy lets off steam by lashing out, Cassie would rather implode and through a drunken display at Maddy’s birthday party, which includes her throwing up in the hot tub? Yeah, while she may not cut Nate’s penis off during sex, she seemingly is down for the long game.
Smacking Off The Rose-Colored Glasses – Elliot, Rue, Jules
The threesome that is Elliot, Rue, and Jules is over. Why? Well, let’s blame Elliot. To begin, he seemingly was fine, even wanted to push, Rue and Jules using him to make the other jealous. In fact, despite Jules initiating the cheating by making out with Elliot, it seemed Rue was down for when Jules dared Rue to kiss Elliot for ten seconds.
To keep it short, there were only three options: Either this would become a polyamorous relationship, it would blow up in everyone’s face, or one person would be eliminated from the throuple. So, what happened? It just blew up.
How? Well, after Jules sneaking make-out sessions with Elliot, Rue kissing Elliot because of a dare Jules did, and then Elliot licking Jules from her hips to just where her bra began? It was a very lustful and hot situation. One Elliot put a pause on to steal beer, White Claw to be specific, which Jules and he does, which furthers Jules’ own specific fall from grace.
But, on the way back, while it seems fine for Elliot and Jules to drink, Rue drinking is another story, and Jules starts to bug her about it to the point Rue wants to get out of the car and outright says she cant’ stand Jules. Those words – devastating. Then, to follow up on that, as Jules is hurting and seemingly wants to go all the way with Elliot since sex would make her feel better, he reveals he and Rue have done drugs together. Thus Jules realizes she has a thing for f***ed up people, and maybe it is because she is f***ed up as well?
Which leads Jules to go back to having sex with random old men.
Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs
Did you feel loved by me?
— Maddy
You are a part of me I will never understand.
— Cal
Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Will we ever learn something about BB, or will she just remain with the one-liners?
- Are we going to get to know Aaron, or will he just be Nate’s mystery of an older brother?
- Did Rue OD? I ask since the last time she was around this many Black people at once, she OD’d.
- What is Lexi not going to put in her play?
- Is this the last of Cal?
- How long until Kat breaks up with Ethan? She sounds miserable, and if she takes Maddy’s advice? Their days seem numbered.
- Is Jules back to hooking up with random older men?
- Will Rue be angry with Elliot or snitching on her?
- Who was that extra kid in the photo with Aaron and Nate? Did Marsha and Cal have three boys?
What Could Happen Next
- Cassie having an utter meltdown at school
- Jules going down a dark path which may end up including drugs
- Rue’s mom discovering her drugs
- Cal searching for Derek
- Elliot feeling guilty for blowing up Jules and Rue’s life
Review
Highlights
That Church Scene
I’m not sure if Rue was raised going to church at all, but I find it interesting that when she is at her lowest point, she often hears a Black choir singing and is surrounded by Black people. Is that strange to anyone else?
That thought aside, the scene with her and Labrinth singing, featuring Robert, Rue’s dad, was illuminating. From what it seems, while her dad isn’t a constant topic, he is at the core of her addiction. Then, if you go by the after-show interviews, it seems that Rue might be trying to get to that perfect high that allows her to embrace her father.
Which says a lot about most of her relationships. Taking note of the song used in the first season finale, “All For Us,” it would seem the only reason Rue hasn’t made an honest effort to die is because of her family. Yet, increasingly that isn’t enough. They have dreams for her that don’t align with what she wants, who she sees herself as, and as they hold fast onto those dreams, she disappears more and more, the real her lost as everyone tries to grasp onto a ghost.
Heck, even with her dad, she tells him that she isn’t who he remembers, that she isn’t a good person, as the song notes that hopefully one day they’ll see her and say they don’t need her. All of which implies that Rue is coming to that point where she may not be able to numb the pain anymore – she legitimately doesn’t want to be here.
Thus giving us what isn’t a come to Jesus moment, but rather Rue coming to the point of being tired fighting to stay alive and hoping that she’ll receive mercy and just die.
Maddy’s Vulnerable Side
More often than not, we don’t see Maddy being vulnerable. She is a bad bitch, and bad bitches keep their heels high, lips popping, and middle fingers high. However, on the rare occasion, Maddy is just a girl. In this episode, one who just turned 18 and is looking around and wondering what’s next? She sees Samantha’s life, and that’s appealing, but how do you get that? How do you find the right man, have a sweet kid like Theo and seem happy both materially and emotionally? Is it even real?
That’s why that moment with Nate, I think, was less about their relationship and more about her. Does she know how to love someone and make them feel loved? Did he ever understand each argument was about reconciliation, her insecurities, and how scared he made her feel because she was falling in love with someone who didn’t seem to match her energy?
Or could it just be, it isn’t that they are toxic when together, or he is toxic for gaslighting her, but maybe she too just isn’t worthy of a healthy and productive relationship?
Recognizing Jules Just Wants to Be Desired
Jules ate out Rue for 25 minutes. Twenty-Five minutes she went down on someone who fakes an orgasm. There is no feedback, no request to change positions, just a fake, porn-like moan.
That’s not going to work.
As Elliot said, Jules is a sexual person, and giving pleasure is important to her in a relationship as much as getting it. Hence, Jules trying to see if maybe something polyamorous could go down for while she loves Rue, she needs quality sexual interaction.
Also, at this point, Jules wanted more than empty sex. Jules wanted sex with someone she could talk to, hang out with, do fun things like steal alcohol. So as much as it may have seemed toxic to have Rue kiss Elliot and make it seem Elliot was being used to cause drama, maybe that wasn’t it? Perhaps this was Jules’ way of trying to show, genuinely, she wasn’t jealous and rather wanted to share Elliot? To, without words, similar to their relationship in season 1, create an unspoken agreement that could be mutually beneficial?
Yet, it seems once Jules realized she fell for an addict again, she veered towards Maddy and Kat territory and questioned if she deserves the things she should want?
Cal’s Mic Drop
First off, I thought Cal was going to die in an accident and wasn’t necessarily mad at the possibility. But, him going on a binger, getting kicked out of a bar, then telling off his family?! Somehow that became the better option. One that, granted, doesn’t relieve Cal of his crimes and actions, but this has perhaps been the most interesting Nate’s family has ever seemed.
The only question is now is whether Cal, with making this confession, will truly abandon his life with Marsha and the kids, or if these were just drunken thoughts let loose?
Low Points
Kat and Cassie’s Storyline
There is a need to question what is going on? I get it is the second season, so there is a need to go bigger. Hence Cassie’s drama with Nate or Kat doubling down on her insecurities. But neither character seems to be doing so in a meaningful way.
With Kat, her role now feels like an obligation to the show than an asset. The amount of focus she got in season one has greatly diminished, and it sometimes feels like they want to do as every teen show does and focus on the Cassie types and leave the Kat types behind. Almost in a bait and switch kind of way.
Then with Cassie, I’m just tired. You present to us a good girl who struggles with being single, who seemingly finally came to a place where that was possible, and then pair her with the most toxic guy on the show? Which leads her to a relationship far worse than we saw with McKay and really has Cassie out here looking crazy as all hell?
Why? That is the only thing that can legitimately be asked, why? Is this to lessen Kat so that she can be written off without you noticing like McKay? Is Cassie being blown up since, like Zendaya, Sweeney’s profile outside of Euphoria is rising, so there is a desire to give her a notably dramatic role too? I just want some answers here since the heart of this show is getting weak, and the sensationalism seems to be growing to the point of wondering if there will remain ways to defend this show by the end of the season?
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